1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to toothbrushes and more particularly to toothbrushes for animals.
2. Background Art
Domestic animals and pets, such as dogs, cats, and other animals, require teeth cleaning on a routine basis, in order to reduce plaque buildup, gingivitis and bad breadth, and prevent periodontal disease, painful inflammatory conditions, in which bacteria attacks gums, ligaments, and bone tissues that surround and support the teeth, with the potential for tooth loss, gum recession and destruction.
It is estimated that more than 85 percent of dogs and cats over four years old have some form of periodontal disease. Most periodontal infections in animals and pets occur from plaque, which is composed of bacteria, salivary proteins, and food debris. The plaque builds up in the groove between teeth and gums, causing irritation, soreness, redness, and swelling, and eventually forms pockets, which deepen and allows bacteria to damage the tissues that hold teeth in place. Bacteria and resulting toxins from oral infections then have a clear path to the animal""s bloodstream and vital organs, such as the brain, heart, liver, lungs, joints, and kidneys.
Preventive techniques include routine brushing of teeth. The need, however, is to brush an animal or pet""s teeth thoroughly and quickly, with as little discomfort to the animal or pet as possible, even when the animal might not be totally cooperative. Conventional toothbrushes are often inappropriate for use on animals or pets that have compound tooth surfaces, which are more complex in shape than humans.
There is thus a need for a toothbrush for pets and animals, which easily conforms to compound and complex shapes of the animal""s teeth, and which cleans substantially all surfaces of an animal""s tooth at the same time, during brushing. The toothbrush should be capable of being used with minimum visibility of the animal""s teeth, as the animal may not always be cooperative during the teeth brushing process. The toothbrush should be durable, long lasting, easy to manufacture, light weight, inexpensive, safe to use, attractive, sturdy, and of simple construction.
Different toothbrushes and the like have been known. However, none of the toothbrushes adequately satisfies these aforementioned needs.
Canine and feline toothbrush devices have been disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,001 (Shipp) discloses a canine and feline toothbrush having an elongated handle securing brush heads having a plurality of bristle tufts. The heads and the tufts attached thereto taper vertically and horizontally. Individual bristles make up each tuft, which have a diameter of in the range of 0.0025 to 0.005. The tufts are arranged in columns increasing in length toward the handle to form a trapezoidal or tapered bristle surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,031,587 (Dietrich) discloses a toothbrush for canines adapted to conform to the shape of the canine jaw and the teeth therein having a handle of suitable length to which are attached at least three rows of bristles, wherein a portion of a central bristle row is shorter than adjacent outer bristle rows, thereby defining an axial trough. The ends of the bristles for engaging the teeth define a contour having a peak adjacent to the end of the handle formed of at least one tuft of bristles from each row, a depression adjacent to the peak formed by at least the two outer rows of bristles, and a uniform slope increasing in height to the neck of the handle. The bristles are arranged in tightly clustered tufts, which contribute to the stiffness and durability thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,249 (Axelrod) discloses a pet toothbrush device having a pair of like toothbrushes carried by a flexible tubular holder. Bristle ends of both the toothbrushes are simultaneously movable against front and back sides of a pet""s teeth as the holder flexes.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 290,426 (Coumey) discloses an ornamental design for an animal toothbrush for placement over a human finger.
Toothbrushes having adjustable heads and flexible heads have been disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,373,602 (Bang) discloses a toothbrush having a flexible extension, which is attached to the outside of a brush head for cleaning the back teeth and minimizing scratches on the periodontal tissue surface and oral cavity.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 324,957 (Piano) discloses an ornamental design for a toothbrush having an adjustable head, and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 404,205 (Hohlbein) discloses an ornamental design for a toothbrush having a flexible head.
Straddle-type toothbrushes, which straddle and clean more than one surface of a tooth simultaneously, have been disclosed.
German Patent No. 85,191 (Reininghaus), U.S. Pat. No. 1,091,291 (Carroll), British Patent No. 203,877 (Hansen), and Swiss Patent No. 179,403 (Landolt-Cotti) each disclosed straddle-type toothbrushes, which date back to 1895, 1914, and 1923, 1935, respectively.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,807,820 (Dinhofer) discloses a straddle-type brush having interior straddle bristle tufts and an exterior section of bristle tufts on a head, adapted to simultaneously clean distal and buccal surfaces of upper teeth of a user, while simultaneously cleaning cusps of the lower teeth, or vice versa, when the head is placed in an inverted position. The brush head may be removably mounted to a handle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,466 (Klinkhammer) discloses a straddle-type toothbrush similar to U.S. Pat. No. 2,807,820 (Dinhofer), except that U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,466 (Klinkhammer) has a transversely foldable handle to facilitate packaging. U.S. Pat. No. 5,360,026 (Klinkhammer) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,669,097 (Klinkhammer), which is a continuation in part of U.S. Pat. No. 5,360,026, further disclose yet other straddle-type tooth brushing device having interior straddle bristle tufts and an exterior section of bristle tufts.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,449,266 (Northemann et al) discloses a toothbrush having internally disposed bristles, which has two segments of bristles and an elongated handle, the handle defining a center plane containing the longitudinal axis. A pair of bristle-bearing segments, each segment containing a plurality of bristles mounted therein, is connected to the handle by a pair of short arms.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,842,249 (Sato) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,497,526 (Klinkhammer) disclose yet other straddle type tooth brushes having internally disposed bristles.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a toothbrush for pets and animals, which easily conforms to compound and complex shapes of the animal""s teeth, and which cleans substantially all surfaces of an animal""s tooth at the same time, during brushing. The toothbrush should be capable of being used with minimum visibility of the animal""s teeth, as the animal may not always be cooperative during the teeth brushing process. The toothbrush should be durable, long lasting, easy to manufacture, light weight, inexpensive, safe to use, attractive, sturdy, and of simple construction.
The present invention is directed to a toothbrush for pets and animals, which easily conforms to compound and complex shapes of an animal""s teeth, and which cleans substantially all surfaces of an animal""s tooth at the same time, during brushing. The toothbrush is capable of being used with minimum visibility of the animal""s teeth, as the animal may not always be cooperative during the teeth brushing process. The toothbrush is durable, long lasting, easy to manufacture, light weight, inexpensive, safe to use, attractive, sturdy, and of simple construction.
An animal toothbrush having features of the present invention comprises: an asymmetrical head and a handle adjoined thereto the asymmetrical head; the asymmetrical head having a substantially V-shaped groove having obliquely disposed opposing walls and an exterior wall adjacent one of the opposing walls; each of the opposing walls having a plurality of tufts of a plurality of internally disposed bristles adjoined thereto the obliquely disposed opposing walls; the exterior wall having a plurality of tufts of a plurality of externally disposed bristles adjoined thereto the exterior wall; the plurality of tufts of the plurality of the externally disposed bristles of the exterior wall being adjacent to and contiguous with the plurality of the tufts of the plurality of the internally disposed bristles of one of the obliquely disposed opposing walls; the plurality of the tufts of the plurality of the internally disposed bristles of the obliquely disposed opposing walls and the plurality of the tufts of the plurality of the externally disposed bristles of the exterior wall being adapted to conform to compound and complex shapes of molars and premolars of animals and pets, such as canines and felines, and of other teeth of other animals.